Pirelli
Login

Welcome

Pirelli
Search

Pirelli and Furukawa Set Up a Joint-Venture for Fiber Optic
Production in Brazil

The new company will be a key player for the Brazilian market,
stimulating its growth in the future

San Paolo, 2 February 2005 – Pirelli
Telecomunicaes Cabos e Sistemas do Brasil S.A. -
Brazilian subsidiary of Pirelli Telecom Cables and Systems – and
Furukawa Industrial Produtos Eltricos signed today an
agreement to set up a joint-venture for fiber optic production in
Brazil. The new company, named SPF – Sociedade Produtora de Fibras
pticas S.A.- is 51% owned by Pirelli and 49% by Furukawa;
the registered office is at Sorocaba (San Paolo), in the existing
Pirelli plant.

Pirelli and Furukawa decided to merge their fiber optic activities
in Brazil in order to catch all the opportunities that could derive
from the recovery of the Brazilian telecommunications market: after
last years slowdown, in fact, SPF aims to become a key player of
the market, stimulating at the same time its future growth.

“We think that the creation of SPF could strengthen both Pirelli
and Furukawa, because it will generate important industrial
synergies. The new joint-venture will in fact be able to offer the
Latin American market a wide portfolio of competitive products and
advanced optical solutions”, said Armando Comparato, Director of
Pirelli Telecomunicaes Cabos e Sistemas do
Brasil.

“This agreement between two of the most important fiber optic
producers in the world aims to confirm Brazil as a country with
highly technologic productions and beware of markets evolutions”,
added Furukawas President, Foad Shaikhzadeh.

SPF will offer its clients fiber optic compliant with all the most
advanced Brazilian and international standards.
The operation is subject to customary regulatory approvals.

About Pirelli

Pirelli is a global producer of Tyres, Energy and Telecommunication
Cables and Systems. Active also in the Real Estate sector, Pirelli
is one of the worlds leading companies in all these sectors
with more than 36,000 employees, 77 production sites, and total
sales of 6.671 billion Euros at 31st December 2003.
It focuses its R& D, production resources and competencies on
leading-edge technologies, as demonstrated by the advanced Pirelli
Labs in the photonics, broadband access and new materials fields
and by MIRS – Modular Integrated Robotized System for tyres
production.
In 2001, Pirelli also acquired – via the company Olimpia – a stake
in Telecom Italia group, one of the leading European telecom
operators.
Additional information on Pirelli is available at:
http://www.pirelli.com.

About Furukawa Electric

The Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd. is a $7 billion global leader in the
design, manufacture and supply of fiber optic products, electronics
components, power cables, nonferrous metals, and other advanced
technology products.
Its fiber optic product offerings include a full range of core
alignment and mass fusion splicers and related splicing tools and
equipment. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Furukawa Electric
operates facilities in United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil,
United Kingdom, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Asian countries.